Saskatoon

Curl Saskatoon bidding to host Olympic curling trials

A curling stone is swept down the ice during the afternoon draw at the Tim Hortons Brier in Edmonton, Alta. Thursday, March 7, 2013. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward)

A prestigious curling event could be coming to Saskatoon, as Curl Saskatoon is putting forward a bid to host the 2021 Tim Hortons Roar of the Rings Canadian Olympic Curling Trials at Sasktel Centre.

Information about the bid is in a report to be presented at the next Planning and Development committee meeting on Tuesday at City Hall.

Curl Saskatoon is seeking a grant of $350,000 from the City of Saskatoon and $750,000 from the Provincial Government if the bid is successful. The funding would cover Curling Canada’s $1-million event hosting fee with the remaining $100,000 used for transportation to Sasktel Centre. Funding from the City of Saskatoon would have to be approved by City Council.

The report says hosting the Roar of the Rings event would attract 150,000 spectators, and have an economic impact of over $16-million.

In the application for the grant funding, Curl Saskatoon says profits would be split between Curling Canada, Curl Sask, Curl Saskatoon and the Junior Curling Development Fund, to further develop the sport in Saskatchewan.

The Roar of the Rings event will bring together the best curling teams in the country to determine who will go onto represent Canada in men’s and women’s curling at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing.

Saskatoon has never hosted the Olympic curling trials. The event was last held in Saskatchewan in 2001, in Regina. Since then it’s been played in Halifax, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Ottawa.

The funding application to the City of Saskatoon says the event is expected to be awarded by the end of 2018. If the Curl Saskatoon bid is successful, a host committee would be established and ticket sales would begin in late 2020.